Shredder for baled hay



April 4, 1961 Filed June 30, 1958 M. L. KINGERY 2,978,191

SHREDDER FOR BALED HAY 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 //v l/ENTOA. MAP/ON L. Al/YGEPY BYW kw 1477UR/VEK SHREDDER FOR BALED HAY Filed June 30, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNl/EN TOR. MAP/0N L K INGER X armkm A TRJPNEX U I V 66 70 April 1961 M. L. KINGERY 2,978,191

SHREDDER FOR BALED HAY Filed June 30, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOP. MAP/01V 1.. KIA/GER) April 4, 1961 M. L. KINGERY SHREDDER FOR BALED HAY 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 30, 1958 .v, mm M W w E 7 VK T ML A m M a rates This invention relates to apparatus for shredding baled hay and more particularly is designed for attachment to and use with a hammer mill.

When using a hammer mill for grinding hay into feed, the most satisfactory results are accomplished if the hay is fed into the mill in loose or separated form as distinguished from a tightly compacted bale. However, since hay is generally formed into bales when harvested, those bales which are put through the mill must be manually separated or shredded to avoid jamming the hammers on the mill. Unless the bale is separated or torn apart, it has been demonstrated that moving a compact bale into the mill will jam the hammers so that they will not perform their intended function.

With these observations in mind, one of the important objects contemplated by this invention is the provision of novel means for automatically shredding a bale ofhay as it is fed into ahammer mill.

More particularly this inventionincludes a conveyor associated with the inlet to' a hammer mill for. moving a bale of hay into the same and fiufiing or shredding hammers operatively connected to the mill hammer assembly for shredding one end of the bale just prior to contact withthe rotating hammers of the mill.

Another object is to operate the mill and this invention from a single source of power.

A further object inhering herein is, the provision of means for suitably supporting, balancing and guiding the bale of hay in order to effectively shred it and deliver it inshredded form into the mill.

Other objects andadvantagcs of this invention reside in the details of construction and correlation ofthe various parts and will be apparent as the description proceeds.

This invention consists of novel parts and combination of parts to behereinafter described whereby the objects.

set-forth are attained, as pointed out in the claims, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

. Fig. l. isa perspective illustrative view of a hammer millwith which my invention is used, a

Fig 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the hamruer mill showing my invention associated therewith and having portions cut away to more fully illustrate the constructionthereof,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view taken inside of the hammer mill from theline 3-3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevational view taken on the conveyor attached. to the mill and looking into the interior thereof, 7 V

Fig. 5 is an enlarged top planview taken from the line 5-5 ofFig. 2, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective. view showing the discharge end of the conveyor. used with this invention.

Referring to the drawings, a' hammer mill unit is design'ated generally by the numeral'ltl to illustrate the type' PatentedApr. 4-, 1961 erally the representative structural parts shown and described as follows. A frame 12 is mounted to an axle 14 with a pair of wheels 16 at the rearward end and supports a drive shaft 18 at the forward end with said shaft adapted for attachment to the power take-off of a tractor (not shown) in a well-known manner. On frame 12 just forwardly of wheels 16 is the hammer mill housing 20 flanked on the rear by plate 22 and on the front by the plate 24 in which there is provided a suitable opening 26 (Fig. 3), which serves as the inlet to housing 20 as will later appear. The upper portion 28 of housing 20 converges in a truncated form for connection to a discharge conduit 30 extending first upwardly and then horizontally into engagement with a cyclone type separator 32, which includes a discharge spout 34 r'otatably mounted thereon as is well known in the art. Separator 32 may be braced to conduit 30 by bracket 36 and removable grills or screens 37 are placed in housing 20 across the opening to conduit 30 as required.

A main drive shaft 38 is suitably mounted through the central portion of housing 20 so as to extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of frame 12 and projects beyond rear plate 22 to carry the spaced sprockets 40 and 42 (Figs. 1 and 2). Sprocket 40 is connected by chain drive 44 to a sprocket 46 located on the outer side of plate 22 on a shaft extension 48 attached to shaft 18 whereby the main shaft 38 is operated from the power take-off of a tractor. An idler 50 may be provided for chain 44. A plurality of hammer supporting plates 52 are transversely disposed on the main shaft 38 in parallel spaced relationship and to the ends of such plates are pivotally attached one end of a hammer bar 54, which carry a hammer blade or paddle 56 on their other end. As shown in Fig. 5, the bars 54 and paddles 56 are only shown for illustration on one side of the main shaft 38, but it will be understood that a. similar arrangement is present relative to the opposite side of shaft 38 in order to provide balance as the paddles rotate. Such hammers or paddles 56 and bars 54 hang downwardly when not operating as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 4, but are extended by centrifugal force when operating as shown in the solid lines of the same figure in a well-known manner.

A hopper assembly 58 comprising a bottom 60 enclosed on two opposite sides by the upstanding sideboards 62 and 64 is open on each end and supported on a brace or bracket 66 attached to frame 12 so that one end of such assembly which I'shall refer to as the inner end 68 is disposed at the lower portion of the inlet opening 26 in plate 24 as shown in Fig. 3. Assembly 58 extends forwardly from opening 26 toward the forward end 76 of frame 12 and in longitudinal alignment therewith. At each end of the bottom 60 are the respective shafts 72 and 74 which carry sprockets 76 on each end and endless chains 78 and 80 respectively move longitudinally at each side of bottom 60 over said sprockets over and under bottom 60. Spaced flights 82 are transversely disposed to chains '78 and 80 and secured thereto to form a conveyor means for moving bales of hay into the mill as will later appear. This conveyor is driven from the power takeoff of a tractor the same as the main shaft 38 which is. accomplished by a shaft 84 rotatably mounted to housing 20 (Figs. 1 and 2) through plates 22 and 24, and having a sprocket 86 on one end connected by a chain drive 88 to sprocket 42 on shaft 38. The other end of shaft 84 carries a pulley 90 connected by an endless belt 92 to ailarger pulley 94 for speed reduction which is connected to one end of shaft 72 on which chains 78 and, 80 run as described. No invention isclaimed in the drive linkage between the conveyor of assembly 53- and the shaft 38 since the same result may be accomplished by. other means and the operation of this inven! tion is not dependent upon the means for moving the conveyor. The machine so far described illustrates generally a hammer mill with hopper and conveyor attached for the purpose of better explaining the operation and relati mship of my invention thereto and as indicated above no invention is claimed in such a machine per se. It will thus be appreciated that there may be variations in detail of such machines as might be used with the invention to be described without affecting the principle thereof.

With reference now more particularly to Figs. 36, a bale of hay 96 is placed in the hopper assembly 58 to be moved by the conveyor means into housing 20 through the inlet opening 26 in plate 24. Once the bale 96 is in the hopper, the usual binding twine thereon (not shown) is removed so that it will not foul the hammer assembly. However, even with such twine removed, it will be appreciated that the bale 96 remains a tightly compacted mass that is relatively undisturbed by movement on the conveyor. It is thus to automatically shred or separate this mass that my invention is designed so as to eliminate the necessity for manually doing so and to eliminate stoppage of the mill by large chunks of the bale that might otherwise be carried into the mill. This is accomplished by a pair of fluffing or shredding hammers 98 and 100, which I have preferably made of rod material, but which may be bars or the like. Each of these hammers 98 and 100 are pivotally attached at one end to bracket 102, which is secured by mounting 53 to one end of a bar 52 (Fig. 4). The ends of bars 52 project slightly beyond one side of opening 26 in plate 24 and hammer 98, which is shorter than hammer 100, is attached to the bar 52 closest to opening 26 relative to the movement of bale 96 into the same. The longer hammer 100 is attached to the second closest bar 52 to opening 26. Hammers 98 and 100 will rotate by centrifugal force as bars 52 rotate with shaft 38 to shred respective portions of the bale as it moves into the mill. In this respect the exact length of hammers 98 and 100 may be varied and preferably I have proportioned them as seen in Figs. 4 and 5 so that the free end of hammer 98 will extend from one bar 52 approximately one third the width of bale 96, hammer 100 will extend from an adjacent bar 52 approximately two thirds the width of bale 96, and the remaining third of the bale will not be contacted by either hammer 98 or 100, but will move directly into the path of the nearest paddle or hammer 56 of the mill assembly. By this arrangement, the bale 96 is in effect divided into small segments, some of which are successively separately shredded by the auxiliary fiufling hammers 98 and 180 so as to leave a relatively small segment of the original bale mass for direct contact with the mill hammers, which is small enough that it can be effectively shredded without jamming or slugging the regular mill hammers 56.

To guide and balance the bale 96 as it moves into the housing 20 and into the hammers 98, 100, and 56 as described, I have preferably provided certain supporting and guiding elements as follows. A U-shaped bracket 104 has its respective ends pivotally secured to the respective side boards 62 and 64 by pins 106 and 108 so that the closed portion 110 of such brace is disposed over hopper 58 and transversely of the longitudinal axis thereof and carries an integral rod or bar length 112 inclined downwardly therefrom toward opening 26 and disposed to yieldingly bear against the top of bale 96 as it enters the housing 20. On each side board 62 and 64 a coil spring 114 is attached at one end to one of the sides of brace 104 and the other end to said respective hopper sides to yieldingly urge rod 112 against the bale as described. On the inner side of plate 24 a pair of spaced stop rods or bars 116 and 118 (Fig. 3) are secured at one end to a mounting plate 120 on the innet side of plate 24 at one side of opening 26 and extend therefrom to a point within and at the top of open- 4 ing 26 from whence they extend in a curved path downwardly past the bottom of opening 26 and toward the same side thereof as their starting point. Stop rods 116 and 118 are associated respectively with the fluffing or shredding hammers 98 and 100 as shown in Fig. 4. Here it will be seen that stop 116 curves downwardly through opening 26 at an arbitrarily selected one third distance of the opening width, and stop 118 follows a similar path another third of the distance across the opening. Such distances as indicated previously may be divided otherwise and are given from a reference point on that side of opening 26, which is closest to the main shaft 38. Relative to the direction of movement of the bale 96 through opening 26, rod 116 is positioned to pass directly behind and adjacent to the free end portion of hammer 98 and rod 118 is similarly arranged relative to the free end of hammer 100. Thus as shown in Fig. 5, the hammers 98 and 100 rotate immediately in front of the respective stops 116 and 118, which serve to limit the penetration of the bale at such points and permit the hammers 98 and 100 to operate effectively by continually acting against the end of the bale in a shredding, hammering or pummeling action. Plate 120 is attached to plate 24 preferably by bolts and nuts 122 so that by adding or removing washers to one or more of such bolts, plate 120 can be spaced or tilted relative to plate 24 to correspondingly adjust rods 116 and 118 for clearance with hammers 98 and 100 if the situation arises.

The end of hopper bottom 60 adjacent opening 26 (Figs. 3 and 6) terminates in a ramp 123, which extends downwardly into opening 26 and carries a projecting support or holding bar 126 off-set toward one side of opening 26 as shown to support the bale 96 from underneath as it leaves the conveyor. At the other end of ramp 124 a guide bar or rod 128 curves inwardly from a plate 130 on hopper side 62. An air deflector plate 132 extends from the inner side of plate 24 downwardly into housing 20 a short distance along the upper edge of opening 26 and a similar deflector 134 extends inwardly from that side of opening 26 furthest from shaft 38 as seen in Fig. 3. The purpose of plates 132 and 134 is to deflect hammered grain away from opening 26 as it moves with air currents created by the rotating paddles or blades 56.

It will be appreciated from the above description, that hay in the form of compacted baled mass is effectively hammered and pummeled by the flufiing hammers as it moves into the mill housing or drum 20 so that the mass is effectively broken up into pieces small enough to be acted upon by the main hammer blades without causing any jamming or stoppage of such hammers.

It is submitted that the invention shown and described is aptly suited to achieve the purposes intended and is characterized by a combination of highly useful and mutually cooperating elements that combine their respective and proportionate functions in accomplishing the objects sought to be obtained.

It will be understood that the phraseology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not for limitation and that modifications and changes in the construction and arrangement of this invention can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit and purpose thereof. It is thus intended to cover by the claims, any modified forms of structure or mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In combination with a hammer mill of the class having a housing provided with an inlet opening, a rotatable shaft assembly in said housing adapted to be connected to a source of power, and hammer blades pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith across said opening, a means for breaking up the mass of a bale of hay-moving into said opening comprising a hopper having sides and a bottom and attached to said housingand having a discharge end'in; communication with saidopening, a conveyor on said hopper, a flufiing hammer pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith and disposed to extend from said shaft assembly only-partially across said opening adjacent the discharge end of said hopper, and said fluifing hammer acting on the baled mass of hay to shred a portion thereof so as to leave a relatively small mass area for direct contact with said hammer blades.

2; In-combination with a hammer mill of the class having a housingprovidedwith an inlet opening, a rotatable. shaft assembly in said housing adaptedto be connected to a source of power, and hammer blades pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith across said'opening, a means for breaking up the mass of a baleof hay moving into said opening comprising a hopper having sides and a bottom and attached to said housing and having a discharge end in communication with said opening; a conveyor on said hopper, a fluflinghamrner pivotally attached. at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith and disposed to extendfrom saidshaft assembly only partially across said opening adjacent the discharge end of said hopper, and a stop membersecured to the inner side of said housing so as to intersect said opening immediately adjacent the inner side of said fiufling hammer.

3. In combination with a hammer mill of the class having a housing provided with an inlet opening, a rotatable shaft assembly in said housing adapted to be connected to a source of power, and hammer blades pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith across said opening, a means for breaking up the mass of a bale of hay moving into said opening comprising a hopper having sides and a bottom and attached to said housing and having a discharge end in communication with said opening, a conveyor on said hopper, a fluffing hammer pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith and disposed to extend from said shaft assembly only partially across said opening adjacent the discharge end of said hopper, an inverted U-shaped frame over said hopper with its ends pivotally attached to the hopper sides, a hold-down rod secured to said frame so as to extend therefrom intermediate the hopper sides downwardly towards said opening, yielding means connecting said frame to said hopper sides to urge'said hold-down rod downwardly, a ramp secured to the bottom of the discharge end of said hopper and extending into said opening, and a support rod projecting from said ramp. l

4. A device as defined in claim 3 including a guide member extending from one side of said hopper in a curved path into said opening adjacent said ramp.

5. In combination with a hammer mill of the class having a housing provided with an inlet opening, a rotatable shaft assembly in said housing adapted to be connected to a source of power, and hammer blades pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith across said opening, a means for breaking up the mass of a bale of hay moving into saidopening comprising a plurality of flufling hammers each pivotally secured at one respective end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith, said fiufiing hammers spaced apart on said shaft inwardly relative to said opening, each successive flufiing hammer from said opening extending progressively further across said opening when in rotation, said flufiing hammers constructed so that in combination they intersect only a portion of said opening when in rotation whereby each flufling hammer effectively shreds a segment of the baled mass of hay and leaves a relatively small segment thereof for direct contact with said hammer blades.

6. In combination with a hammer mill of the class having a housing provided with an inlet opening, a rotatable shaft assembly in said housing adapted to be connected to a source of power, and hammer blades pivotally attached at oneend to said shaft assembly forrotation therewith across saidopening, a means for breaking up the mass of a bale of haymoving into said opening comprising a plurality of fluffing hammers each pivotally secured at one respective end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith, said flulfing hammers spaced apart on said shaft inwardly relative to said opening, each successive flufiing hammer from said opening extending progressively further across said opening when in rotation, and stop members secured respectively to the inner side of said housing so as to vertically intersect said opening adjacent the inner side of said respective fiufiing hammers at a point defined by the free end of said hammers in rotation.

7. In combination with a hammer mill of the class having'a housing provided with an inlet opening, a rotatable shaft assembly in said housing adapted to be connectedto a source of power, and hammer blades pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith across said opening, a means for breaking up the mass ofa-bale of hay moving into said opening comprising a plurality of flufling hammers each pivotally secured at one respective end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith and for simultaneous rotation with said hammer blades, said fiufling I hammers disposed intermediate'said hammer blades and said opening and spaced apart on said shaft inwardly relative to said opening, each of said flufiing hammers being of a shorter length than said hammer blades, each successive flufiing hammer from said opening extending progressively further across said opening when in rotation, the longest of said fiufiing hammers extending less than the full distance across said opening whereby a portion of a bale of hay passing through said opening will pass outside of the range of said fiuffing hammers into direct contact with said hammer blades, and means for moving a bale of hay into said inlet opening.

8. In combination with a hammer mill of the class having a housing provided with an inlet opening, a rotatable shaft assembly in said housing adapted to be connected to a source of power, and hammer blades pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith across said opening, a means for breaking up the mass of a bale of hay moving into said opening comprising a hopper having sides and a bottom and attached to said housing and having a discharge end in communication with said opening, a conveyor on said hopper, a hammer member operatively associated with said shaft for rotation therewith at a point intermediate said hammer blades and said inlet opening where it can pound and beat against the end of a bale of hay as it moves into said inlet opening on said conveyor and thus break up the mass of said bale before it reaches said hammer blades, and guide means on said hopper disposed vertically and horizontally relative to the bale of bay to be moved thereon and adapted respectively to bear against said bale in guiding it into said inlet opening.

9. In combination with a hammer mill of the class having a housing provided with an inlet opening of uniform size, a rotatable shaft assembly in said housing adapted to be connected to a source of power, and hammer blades pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith across said opening, a means for breaking up the mass of a bale of hay moving into said opening comprising a hopper having sides and a bottom and attached to said housing and having a discharge end in communication with said opening, a conveyor on said hopper, a plurality of hammer members each operatively associated with said shaft for rotation therewith, eachof said hammer members being progressively longer and extending progressively further into said inlet opening when in rotation, said hammer members disposed to rotate intermediate said,

hammer blades and said inlet opening, and said hammer members constructed so that in combination they intersect only a portion of said opening when in rotation whereby each hammer member efiectively shreds a segment of the baled mass of hay and leaves a relatively small segment thereof for direct contact with said hammer blades.

10. In combination with a hammer mill of the class having a housing provided with an inlet opening, a rotatable shaft assembly in said housing adapted to be connected to a source of power, and hammer blades pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith across said opening, a means for breaking up the mass of a bale of hay moving into said opening comprising a hopper having sides and a bottom and attached to said housing and having a discharge end in communication with said opening, a conveyor on said hopper, a plurality of hammer members each operatively associated with said shaft for rotation therewith, said hammer members spaced apart inwardly relative to said inlet opening,

said hammer members being of different lengths and ar- 20 ranged so that successive hammer members from said inlet opening extend progressively further across said inlet opening when in rotation, said hammer members disposed to rotate intermediate said hammer blades and said inlet opening, and guide means on said hopper disposed vertically and horizontally relative to the bale of hay to be moved thereon and adapted respectively to bear against said bale in guiding it into said inlet opening.

11. In combination with a hammer mill of the class having a housing provided with an inlet opening, a conveyor having a discharge end in communication with said opening, a rotatable shaft assembly in said housing adapted to be connected to a source of power, and ham mer blades pivotally attached at one end to said shaft assembly for rotation therewith across said opening, a means for breaking up the mass of a bale of hay moving into said opening comprising a hammer member operatively associated with said shaft for rotation therewith at a point intermediate said hammer blades and said inlet, said hammer member operable across only a portion of said opening where it can pound and beat against a portion of the end of a bale of hay as it moves into said inlet opening on said conveyor to break up said portion of said bale and leave only a relatively small portion thereof for direct contact with said hammer blades.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 909,914 Langdon Jan. 19, 1909 2,066,621 Gray Ian. 5, 1937 2,505,023 Williamson Apr. 25, 1950 2,685,400 Cross Aug. 10, 1954 2,858,080 Couchot Oct. 28, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 205,573 Australia Dec. 12, 1956 1,009,840 Germany June 6, 1957 

